Covid cancellations for Roberto Bolle and Friends
Roberto Bolle’s dance roadshow Roberto Bolle and Friends has been hit by the latest surge in Covid cases with shows at the Dubai Millennium Amphitheatre on 6 January and the Emirates Palace Auditorium in Abu Dhabi on 9 January being rescheduled for February.
A statement from the Italian Pavillion at Expo 2020 reads:
Several of the Company’s members tested positive to Covid-19 before their departure:
All the shows of the “Roberto Bolle and Friends” Company scheduled for 6 January at Expo Dubai and for 9 January in Abu Dhabi will be rescheduled to February 2022.
At the Covid-19 controls before departure, some of the Company’s members tested positive, which prevented the artists from departing and participating in the two performances scheduled. The Gala is therefore not cancelled but rescheduled to a new date in February yet to be defined.
The Abu Dhabi Festival statement reads:
In line with our commitment to ensure the health and safety of our festival attendees and invited guest performers, and our commitment to deliver premium experiences to our festival attendees, the Italian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi Festival have decided to postpone the Roberto Bolle and Friends ballet company’s gala performance, scheduled for the 9th of January at Emirates Palace.
A United Arab Emirates newspaper says that the UAE has seen an exponential growth of daily cases since mid-December and the Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee has recently issued a number of safety new guidelines regarding social events.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
I am eager to learn when this will be re-scheduled.